China Information Society News

Every blog needs its Google China post - here it is

2010-01-25T19:16:00.001+08:00

[Update: German Version of this available at Kooptech ]Everybody is talking about cyber attacks and Google and Don't be Evil and Censorship and Internet Imperialism. It is more than difficult to decide which position to dislike more. But I don't need to decide, fortunately, I just need to opinionate on what's going on. In general terms, the US has

Online democracy vs real democracy

2010-01-12T09:06:00.000+08:00

One could argue in detail whether the disctinction between online democracy and real democracy as discussed in this Global Times article is slightly off, but it still is interesting how the contribution of online discussion fora and citizen media to public opinion formation is taken on here. The experts quoted are from academic institutions, but as the

The important but ambiguous role of Twitter in China

2010-01-05T12:39:00.000+08:00

Chinese mass media are sometimes funny. Literally laugh out loud funny, that is. Just the other week, there was this bit of propaganda rolling over several government information outlets that the internet is on the brink of being captured by people whose sole intention is to turn around public opinion by systematically spreading false information through

New Publication on Chinese Telecoms Regulation out now

2009-12-30T10:25:00.002+08:00

Chinese as well as European regulatory decisions need to consider regional particularities but insist on an implementation system that never loses sight of its goal. In the area of electronic communications policy, this goal is the establishment of a market environment that ensures innovation, high quality and affordable prices. The present survey aims at improving the process of knowledge

China Law Blog suggests best books on China Business of 2009

2009-12-24T15:46:00.000+08:00

Here's where you find it: http://www.chinalawblog.com/2009/12/the_best_ten_books_on_china_fo.html . Interesting list in any case, in particular when adding the discussion in the comment section.

Admin note: old Newsletters of Information Society Project deleted

2009-12-24T10:09:00.004+08:00

In the interest of resource saving (webspace, mainly), I have deleted the old newsletters of the EU-China Information Society Project from this blog's download section. Some links in old posts will therefore be dead. If you are still interested in the newsletters, let me know through the comment section. I can make them available directly.

Importation of Encryption Products - New OSCCA/GAC joint notice

2009-12-22T09:39:00.001+08:00

The Office of the State Commercial Cypher Administration (OSCCA) published a new regulation requiring a license from OSCCA for the importation of encryption products. Although the announcement provides a list of products requiring such a license, the announcement also suggests that importer may still need a license for any encryption products even if it is not the list. The odd thing about

Online Conspiracies - there are Internet manipulators!

2009-12-21T10:43:00.001+08:00

UPDATE Dec 21, 6pm: the plot thickens, there has actually been a long CCTV special on the dangers oozing from the internet, see the transcript at EastSouthWestNorth.This is brilliant: The Global Times publishes a comment by some Wu Huaoting blaming influential groups to modify public online opinion on the internet by swarming out over the fora, commenting

Internet Governance in China: No more personal URL registrations

2009-12-20T16:42:00.000+08:00

The Chinese central government has barred individuals from registering internet domain names. At the same time, past registrations are being reviewed for compliance with the new regulations. CNNIC, China's registry, declared that henceforth only holders of a business license may register a domain names in the .cn realm. With this tightening, mainland China

"China National Indigenous Innovation Procedures", or: No more foreign products in Chinese Procurement

2009-12-08T18:08:00.000+08:00

The Chinese government recently issued rules for developing a national catalogue of “national indigenous innovation products” to receive government procurement preferences. (The rules have been issued by MOST, NDRC and MoF.) These products include: - Computer devices - Communication products - Office equipment - software - energy equipment - energy

Global Forum Convergence 2009

2009-10-20T20:24:00.000+08:00

I am currently here: G lobal Forum is an annual international and independent event, a Tink Tank dedicated to the Economic, Political and Social issues related to the successful evolution of the Information Society. Romania has won the competition with US, China and Switzerland to organize this year the 18th edition of the Global Forum. The event will

Safe the kids from the Internet Cafes

2009-10-20T18:10:00.000+08:00

If you have ever observed the goings-about in Chinse internet cafes, the blank stares of gamers and video watchers for hours at a time, the shady atmosphere and apparent lack of interest of anybody in anything a connected computer has to offer apart from shooting and being colourful and noisy … then you may feel a bit of sympathy with the responsible

New limitation against computer games: stop, you vandals!

2009-08-04T09:00:00.000+08:00

"games that promote drug use, obscenities, gambling, or crimes such as rape, vandalism and theft are "against public morality and the nation's fine cultural traditions." Games that promote murder or slaughter apparently are not � meaning the latest ban on a subgroup of the gaming genre seems specifically aimed at the kind of games like GTA or other

Policy on cleaner Online Games in China

2009-07-23T14:03:00.000+08:00

Xinhua brings us this update on Chinese policy for online games: “The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) of China said Wednesday that the country will next year start to implement a five-year program advocating clean online games.” What will come exactly under this "China Green Online Games Publishing Program" has not yet been

Green Currency Dam

2009-07-02T11:00:00.000+08:00

After all the Green Dam exhilaration has ebbed, there is now a bit of a more interesting development in Chinese Information Society Regulation. Virtual money (i.e. Linden Dollars and friends) must not be converted anymore into either real-world currency or goods, a new regulation of the Minsitry of Commerce says (http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/

Chinese Cybercrime Regulations 2009

2009-06-02T14:11:00.000+08:00

China has targeted cybercrime in three new sets of regulations issued thismonth as the activity starts to look like an established industry in thecountry. The full story with the explanation of the three regulation'sthrust is here at Networkworld.com: http://tinyurl.com/kjzc25. The Chinese titles and original sources of the regulations are here:《互联网网络安全信息通报实施办法》http://www.miit.gov.cn/n11293472/

Newsletter EU-China Information Society Project

2009-04-14T12:34:00.000+08:00

The Eu-China Information Society Project's latest Newsletter titled "What's Coming Up in 2009" is now available for download from this website."What's coming up in 2009"(PDF 1.3 MB)Here are the links to some past newsletters:"Convergence" (PDF 1.8 MB)"e-Inclusion" (PDF, 1.7 MB)"E-Commerce Edition" (PDF, 1.4 MB)"Information Security Edition (PDF, 1.7 MB)

3d Internet Workshop documentation

2009-03-29T15:50:00.003+08:00

During a workshop on March 13, the EU-China Information Society Project presented an overview over the status quo, trends, developments and challenges in the area of the "3D Internet". The speakers covered technological, business and policy challenges in a one-day seminar, with speakers from Europe and China introducing their respective perspectives. Three companies introduced their respective

China intends to reach the mark of 10Mn TD-SCDMA subscribers in 2009

2009-02-27T15:40:00.000+08:00

As found at the Blog of the Wirelss Federation: China aims to have 100 million TD-SCDMA users in the next three years, withthe figure reaching 10 million this year, revealed company's top executives.Lu Dongfeng, Vice-President of Datang Telecom Technology, the major providerof TD-SCDMA technology and products, said at an industry forum in Chongqingthat China plans to have 100 million TD-SCDMA

China to amend law to better protect personal information

2009-02-26T12:26:00.000+08:00

China to amend law to better protect personal information (Source: Xinhua) China's top legislature on Wednesday started to debate an amendment to the Criminal Law that aims to protect the personal information from being divulged and abused. If approved by the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee at the end of a four-day session in

Exciting newspaper news

2009-02-25T19:31:00.002+08:00

Very rarely do the Chinese newspapers get me excited, but here it is, the case of a proofreader who deserves a medal of good taste, brought to us via Chinadigitaltimes and The Times:"[A]… proofreader and typesetter at the outspoken Southern Metropolis Daily have been fined for an article that went a step too far – even for one of the few newspapers in China willing on occasion to challenge the

Here there be culture!

2009-02-24T10:20:00.001+08:00

Wittertainment at its most wittertaining, this time from Imagethief on the ever-fascinating topic of governmentally conceived culture:As the Beijing Municipal People's Political Consultative Conference announced that they had conceived a big-scale blockbuster flick about the Birth of a Nation (something like that, in any case), the approporiate comment comes in:"… nothing says, Aaargh! My eyes!

Data Protection in China / Presentation at Council of Europe Conference

2009-02-19T15:42:00.002+08:00

At the 30th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, Prof Zhou Hanhua of China Academy of the Social Sciences presented an overview on current challenges of data protection in China. You can watch the video capture at the conference website: http://www.privacyconference2008.org/index.php?page_id=194 (choose "Panel 1")Or

Silver Surfer's Facebook

2009-02-16T11:34:00.000+08:00

Very nice bit about how the silver surfers (meaning 32 and over…) take over Facebook, as found on TIME Magazine's website: We're not cool, and we don't care. There was a time when it was cool to be on Facebook. That time has passed. Facebook now has 150 million members, and its fastest-growing demographic is 30 and up. At this point, it's way cooler not

New Report on Data Protection Policy in the EU and China

2009-01-14T10:54:00.004+08:00

The latest working paper of the EU-China Information Society Project has just been finalised."EU-China Personal Data Protection: Questions and Answers" is building on last year's overview over EU Personal Data Protection Principles. After presenting those, follow-up questions were discussed with the Chinese government, leading to a catalogue of issues that the project and it's experts in the EU